Kasonic Order
The Kasonic Order was founded 200 years ago with the blessings of the Empress of Solar Illegon and the Emperor of the Kaselreich. This was unusual, generally the Imperial seats of Illegon and Kasel just try to ignore each other, since the very existence of each embarrasses the other. However, as part of an attempt to bring an end to the bloody conflicts between Genosians on the southern side of the Thule, and the pagans on the northern side, the two powers agreed to pool their authority and found the holy order. The Kasonic Order is a rarity in the Genosian religion, because it has the Authority of Proselytization. This is not regular at all. Missionary work is not seen as noble in the Genosian religion, nor (normally) are attempts to convert heathens seen as worthwhile. The Genosian way is to construct great works, build a great society, and trust in the magnificence of what they produce to attract heathens to emulate them and adopt their ways and their religion. Why bother trying to convince them with words? The Kasonic Order is different. They were assembled in response to a foe who neither converted nor minded their own business — raids, skirmishes, and tribal warfare had been a constant threat across the northern reaches, and the local bishops were beginning to get so sick of the non-aggressive policy of the church that some of them were threatening Apostasy. Rather than risk that, the Kasonic Order was formed with one directive: Convert, Kill, Conquer. The Kasonic Order is made up largely of sons without inheritances who want something better for themselves than lives as lackeys under their siblings. The Order doesn't care about your birth, only your faith and your abilities. Even commoners can enter the Order — though admittedly very few are capable enough to achieve high position — and converts as well. The Order itself has the right to convert infidels at the edge of the sword. This is most often done through forced "penance," essentially ten years of slavery, which most individuals so-saved spend in the great amber mines of northern Pomerija. Subdivisions The Order is unofficially divided into certain sub-Orders that pursue their own agendas in the north, though all answer to the same authorities and infighting is never officially tolerated. The largest are detailed here. Order of the Rope The Order of the Rope maintains that pagans cannot be converted through penance, that their souls are too far gone to be expunged of sin by anything but death. They fight on the front lines whenever they can, pushing into new territory and killing every living thing in reach, "forgiving" the corpses after death to fulfill their religious duty. While their methods are considered extreme even by other members of the Kasonic Order, they have too much support in the South (Particularly among the Apatite Order) to be stopped from continuing in their ruthless behavior. Order of the Black Sun The Order of the Black Sun is concerned with relics, artifacts, and other dangerous magic. Securing these relics and conserving them for the good of Genosism is one of the most dangerous and harrowing tasks any good Genosian can be charged with. The potential of losing one's immortal soul to the hunger of some terrible pagan magic is a very real danger to such pious people. As such, the Order of the Black Sun is only made up of the singularly faithul, and the frighteningly ambitious. Many great artifacts of the past have been turned to good use in Genosian hands by members of this Order. Additionally, the Order of the Black Sun does not operate as strictly in the north as the rest of the Kasonic Order, and many can be found hunting artifacts in other lands as well, from Dace to Kedoua, even as far as an ill-fated attempt to penetrate Lost Izagone. Future For the most part, the practice of the Kasonic Order is moderate. The group intimidates pagans on the border into converting to Genosism, and if they refuse, they invade. The Order's history has mostly been one of great success. Now, however, problems have begun to arise as the north runs out of pagans within easy reach. Some portions of the Order want to relocate further north, perhaps to Svitgard or the Thanemarch, to "help them" deal with their remaining pagans in the notoriously independent Wolfsmaw Islands, and to an extent this has already begun. The Order of the The Black Sun have already established a small fort in the northern lands from which to search for a magic artifact rumored to exist in the frozen lands — a device that is said to be able to produce flour, salt and gold out of thin air, thus obsoleting labor. Obviously if such a device existed, it would have to be destroyed. Its very existence is blasphemous. In the south however, with fewer and fewer conquests remaining, the Kasonic Order has started to chafe its Genosian neighbors with their witch hunts. Accusations that the Lendians are sympathetic to, or even harboring pagan tribes within their borders have thusfar not led to war, but unless a new threat emerges to redirect the tension, conflict there is almost inevitable. Category:Military Units